When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4, NIV)
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised his followers that they would not be left alone. He promised a comforter and a helper for them - the Holy Spirit.
The arrival of the promised Holy Spirit on the first 120 or so Christians was a spectacular moment. There was a noise like a violent wind and something that looked like fire. Being filled with the Holy Spirit wasn’t just an internal, personal moment, but one that caused them to speak in other languages.
I hope you’ll be able to join us either in person, or online, as we recall the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the first believers and see what the Holy Spirit means for us as well.
Sunday Services
You would be very welcome to join us at our 10:30am service this Sunday. We are now able to have social contact indoors under the rule of 6 (or two households) inside (and up to 30 outdoors).
There will be a service of Holy Communion at 8:30am in St Thomas, Northaw, this Sunday.
The 10:30am Sunday morning service will be taking place simultaneously online and in-person at St Andrew. Streaming for the 10:30am service will start at 10:25am, and can be accessed directly via Facebook or YouTube, found on our website, and is advertised on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
If you are attending the 10:30am service, please indicate that using this form, or contact me directly (chris@norcuff.com, 07446 516945), to let me know that you are planning to attend.
Step 3 Changes
On Monday 17th May, England moved into Step 3 of the roadmap out of lockdown. There are not as many changes as we might have hoped for - there is still no corporate singing, for example - but there are still some changes to our services.
We are now able to sit in groups of six (or two households if more) during services, if we want to. These groups need to be socially distant from each other, and there should be no mixing or mingling between groups. Because of this, we will be removing the seat markers at St Andrew’s to allow for greater flexibility of seating.
If you would like to sit as part of a group, please do - if possible, please arrange this before finding a seat. Please also remember that there may well be those who do not want to sit as part of a larger group.
Children’s Church
Our Children’s Church is running this Sunday. All babies and children (and their grown-ups, if they are not old enough or comfortable enough to stay alone) are welcome to join us in the Undercroft any time after 10.20. Pre-registration is very helpful where possible, so that we can get details and explain the COVID requirements in advance; please contact Anna in order to do this (families@norcuff.com).
Audio Recordings
Because the service is now live, the audio from the 10:30 service will be available (01707 927907) later in the afternoon, once it has been processed. As well as the ‘dial-in’ service, audio recordings of all services are also available through SoundCloud.
Church Family Fellowship
After the Sunday service, we’ll have coffee together via Zoom (details on the website); if you’d like to be part of the meeting, please email me.
Wednesday Prayer @ 10am
Do please join us on Wednesday mornings, via Zoom, for a short service of Morning Prayer: https://zoom.us/j/93894170814.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
The Wednesday evening Bible Study is paused until June, when we plan to relaunch it.
Praying during the week
Please can I encourage you, when possible, to stop at noon and spend a few minutes praying; we’ll email out possible areas for prayer each week. If you would like to make any suggestions, please email prayers@norcuff.com.
Community Survey
As part of their preparations for the production of a Neighbourhood Plan, the Parish Council have arranged for a market research company to conduct a community survey to find out local opinions on various topics, including local facilities and the Parish Council itself.
More information on what the Neighbourhood Plan is and what it would mean for the community is available on the Parish Council website. The survey runs online from 22nd April until 27th May, and is also availble online.
How to join us live
The website has the information on how to join our live services and virtual coffee. Do feel free to share the links to our services with friends and relatives; everyone is very welcome to join us, no matter where they are in the world.